Murata Tetsuya
Murata Tetsuya (村田 鉄矢) was a swordsmith living in Edo. He was the eldest son of renowned swordsmith Murata Jintetsu, and brother of Murata Tetsuko. He was the creator of the Benizakura bio-mechanical sword, which was based on his father's original Benizakura, as confirmed by Tetsuya's sister in Episode 59. He had severe hearing problems, and often spoke like he was shouting. He helped Takasugi Shinsuke by providing him the sword he had made, but didn't care for Takasugi's plots or ambition. Background Murata Tetsuya grew up in Edo living with his father and his sister. His father was a renowned swordsmith, and taught both his children how to forge swords. One day when he was lecturing Tetsuko, he said that her swordsmith skills were rough, but that she possessed something Tetsuya did not, and he hoped that Tetsuya would understand that someday. Having eavesdropped on them, Tetsuya became enraged by this, and completely devoted his life to swordsmithing in order to surpass his father. He put his craft before everything else, and told himself that he didn't need anyone or anything other than the sword. Sooner or later, his father would pass away. Appearance He had long, navy blue hair and distinctive eyebrows in the same color that split at the end. Personality Tetsuya lived on the belief that a swordsmith only makes swords for killing, and wanted to make a sword that could cut through anything and anyone, so that he could surpass his father. Only during his final moments did he remember one of his father's most important lessons to him and his sister; that they hammer their own souls into shape just as they hammer the iron, and that they should become gentle people with integrity and live their lives beautifully. Story Benizakura Arc Tetsuya was introduced in Episode 58 of the Benizakura Arc, as he called Sakata Gintoki of the Yorozuya, presumably so he could hire him to find a missing sword, namely the cursed Benizakura sword. However, this all turned out to be a scam, and Tetsuya only hired Gintoki so that his bio-mechanical version of the Benizakura sword could attain experience from battling him, since it had the ability to record battles, analyse them and grow smarter, as stated by Tetsuko in Episode 59. It is also possible that he hired Gintoki by request from Okada Nizou, who held a grudge against him, as stated by Gintoki himself in the same episode. Later on, Tetsuya was seen on Takasugi's Spaceship, performing some minor check-ups on his sword that was now a part of Nizou. Gintoki appeared, and soon started battling Nizou. It seemed like Gintoki was winning, much to Tetsuya and Tetsuko's surprise, but the sword suddenly evolved, even further taking over Nizou's body. As Gintoki had been trapped and Nizou tried to get in the final strike, Tetsuko jumped on Nizou, saving Gintoki, but leaving herself completely open. Nizou then tried to kill Tetsuko, but Tetsuya who was watching all along, got in front of her, saving her life, but sacrificing his own in order to do it. Before he passed away, he learned why his sword smithing skills were inferior compared to Tetsuko's. Trivia *Based on Murata Tsuneyoshi who created the Murata Gun before forging blades that were mass-produced in the army. References Category:Characters Category:Human Category:Male Characters Category:Orphans Category:Deceased Characters